最新技术可以降低页岩油生产成本

石油工程公司Skoltech的一项最新研究结果发现，使用纳米颗粒和表面活性剂的水溶液实际上可能会将石油困在地下，而不是帮助石油开采

研究人员还发现，在提高原油采收率作业中，盐水与更昂贵的表面活性剂一样有效

在疫情后的通货膨胀中，美国页岩油的生产成本多年来一直在上升，在成本轨迹达到转折点后，美国页岩行业终于可以松一口气了

据油价网2023年8月7日报道，美国页岩革命极大地重塑了世界能源市场。页岩繁荣是最令人印象深刻的增长故事之一：从2008年的腾飞到二叠纪盆地在十多年的时间里从沙特加瓦尔油田手中夺走了原油产量最高油田的宝座。

近几年来，由于常规石油储量的不断减少以及全球能源需求的加速增长，各种化学提高原油采收率(EOR)的方法得到了发展。表面活性剂驱油是最常用的化学提高原油采收率方法之一，因为它能够通过多种机制提高原油采收率，包括降低界面张力(IFT)、改变可湿性、产生泡沫和乳化。

然而，Skoltech的一项最新研究发现，使用纳米颗粒和表面活性剂的水溶液实际上可能会将石油困在地下，而不是帮助石油开采。

更有趣的是：研究人员还发现，在EOR作业中，盐水与更昂贵的表面活性剂一样有效。

研究人员对油页岩样品进行了数值模拟和两个复杂的实验室实验，以确定将含有二氧化硅纳米颗粒或表面活性剂的水溶液注入页岩油藏以提高原油采收率的有效性。所使用的表面活性剂为脂肪酸甲酯磺酸钠。

Skoltech说，“我们的研究考虑了13种流体，其中两种流体被选择用于西西伯利亚Bazhenov地层油饱和岩石的圆柱形样本的测试。首先，我们注入盐水(含盐量非常高的水)，测得原油采收率约为53%。这大致相当于能够提取储油层中大约一半的石油。研究人员说，这个数字作为评估实验中两种药剂效率的基线值，尽管实际油藏条件下的值会更低。”

虽然表面活性剂确实提高了原油采收率，但53%的提高幅度与注入盐水完全相同，这意味着页岩生产商可能会浪费宝贵的资金。表面活性剂还被发现堵塞了岩石中的一些孔隙，从而降低了岩石的渗透率。

埃克森美孚公司首席执行官达伦·伍兹最近透露，通过采用新式的水力压裂技术，页岩生产商能够将他们现有井的原油产量提高一倍。

伍兹8月3日在伯恩斯坦战略决策会议上说，“有很多石油被留在地下。水力压裂法已经存在了很长时间，但水力压裂法的科学并没有得到很好的理解”。伍兹透露，埃克森美孚公司目前正在两个特定领域改进水力压裂技术。首先，该公司正试图沿着油井进行更精确的压裂作业，以便释放出更多被岩石浸透的石油。埃克森美孚公司还在寻找方法，让进行压裂作业的裂缝保持更长时间开放，以促进石油的流动。

页岩成本下降

在疫情暴发后的通货膨胀中，美国页岩行业的生产成本多年来一直在上升，在成本轨迹达到一个转折点后，美国页岩行业终于可以松一口气了。第二季度生产成本同比下降1%，这是三年来首次出现收缩。钻杆价格今年已经下降了一半，钻机日费率下降了10%以上，钢铁和柴油的成本也趋于下降。据高盛银行通过彭博社表示，钻杆价格今年下跌了50%；钻机日费率下降了10%以上，而柴油和钢材的成本也在逐渐下降。由于工资持续上涨，只有劳动力价格顶住了这一下跌趋势。

虽然一个百分点的下降可能不会对利润产生太大影响，但高盛银行表示，到2024年，该行业成本将下降10%，足以显著提高利润和现金流。价格压力的缓解是最受欢迎的：在经历了两年的惨淡收益和充裕的现金流之后，美国油气行业今年的这两项指标都将出现下滑。

石油巨头产量增长

最近几家大型石油公司公布了第二季度业绩，几乎所有公司都有一个共同的主题：产量大幅增长，但收入和利润的收缩幅度更大。

埃克森美孚公司公布第二季度利润为78.8亿美元，同比下降55.9%，而第二季度收入为829.1亿美元，同比下降28.3%。另一方面，埃克森美孚公司表示，到今年年底，相对于2019年，它仍有望实现90亿美元的结构性成本节约，迄今为止已累计实现83亿美元的结构性成本节约。埃克森美孚公司报告称，第二季度油气日总产量同比下降3.3%，至361万桶油当量；然而，不包括撤资、股权分配、政府授权和征收萨哈林-1项目，日净产量实际上增加了超过16万桶。二叠纪盆地油气的日产量达到历史新高的62.2万桶油当量，今年有望增长10%，而圭亚那的油气日产量有望在年底前增长5%，达到40万桶油当量。

雪佛龙公司报告称，其第二季度收益同比下降48.3%，至60.1亿美元，而调整后的收益收缩49.2%，至57.8亿美元。与此同时，第二季度营收为489亿美元，同比增长-28.9%。 雪佛龙公司报告称，二叠纪盆地的油气日产量达到历史新高的77.2万桶油当量，同比增长11%。

李峻 译自 油价网

原文如下：

New Research Could Make Shale Oil Production Cheaper

·     A fresh study by petroleum engineering firm Skoltech has found that using water solutions of nanoparticles and surfactants may actually trap the oil underground instead of helping it to be recovered.

·     The researchers have also discovered that brine is just as effective in EOR operations as more expensive surfactants.

·     After years of rising production costs amid post-pandemic inflation, the U.S. shale patch can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the cost trajectory hit a turning point.

The U.S. shale revolution has dramatically reshaped the world energy markets. The shale boom was one of the most impressive growth stories, from take off in 2008 to the Permian stealing the mantle from Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar as the world’s highest-producing oilfield in a little over a decade. 

Different methods of chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) have been developed over the years thanks to the continuous decline in conventional oil reserves as well as the accelerated increase in the global energy demand. Surfactant flooding is one of the most commonly used chemical EOR methods due to its ability to enhance recovery using multiple mechanisms including interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, wettability alteration, foam generation and emulsification. 

However, a fresh study by Russian petroleum engineering firm Skoltech has found that using water solutions of nanoparticles and surfactants may actually trap the oil underground instead of helping it to be recovered. 

Even more intriguing: the researchers have also discovered that brine is just as effective in EOR operations as more expensive surfactants.   

The researchers ran a numerical simulation and two complex lab experiments on oil shale samples to determine the effectiveness of injecting water solutions containing silicon dioxide nanoparticles or a surfactant into shale oil reservoirs to enhance recovery. The surfactant used was sodium fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate. 

"Our study considered 13 fluids and two were selected for tests on cylinder-shaped samples of oil-saturated rock from the Bazhenov Formation of Western Siberia. First we injected brine——water with a very high salt content——and measured an oil recovery factor of about 53%. This is roughly analogous to being able to extract about half of the oil in the reservoir. That figure served as the baseline value for assessing the efficiency of the two agents in the experiment, although the value under actual reservoir conditions would be lower," the researchers have said.

While the surfactant did boost the oil recovery factor, the 53% boost was exactly the same as with brine injection, meaning shale producers might be wasting precious money. The surfactant was also found to block some of the pores in the rock thus reducing its permeability.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods recently revealed that shale producers can double crude output from their existing wells by employing novel fracking technologies.

“There’s just a lot of oil being left in the ground. Fracking’s been around for a really long time, but the science of fracking is not well understood,” Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said Thursday at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference. Woods has revealed that Exxon is currently working on two specific areas to improve hydraulic fracturing. First off, the company is trying to frac more precisely along the well so that more oil-soaked rock gets drained. It’s also looking for ways to keep the fracked cracks open longer so as to boost the flow of oil. 

Declining Shale Costs

After years of rising production costs amid post-pandemic inflation, the U.S. shale patch can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the cost trajectory hit a turning point. Production costs fell 1% year-on-year in the second quarter, marking the first time they have shrunk in three years. Drill pipe prices have halved this year, daily rig rates are down by more than 10% and the costs of steel and diesel are also trending lower. According to Goldman Sachs via Bloomberg, Drill pipe prices have fallen by 50% this year; daily rig rates are down by more than 10% while the costs of diesel and steel have been gradually declining. only labor has been defying this trend as wages continue rising.

Whereas a decline of a single percentage point might not make much of a difference on the bottomline, Goldman says costs will be 10% lower in 2024, enough to boost profits and cash flows significantly. Easing price pressures are most welcome: after two years of bummer earnings and copious cash flows, the U.S. oil and gas sector is set to record a decline on both metrics in the current year.

Big Oil Production Growth

Several Big Oil companies have returned their Q2 scorecards, and nearly all have a common theme: considerable production growth but even bigger top-and bottom-line contraction.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) has reported Q2 earnings of $7.88B, good for 55.9% Y/Y decrease while Q2 revenue of $82.91B is good for -28.3% Y/Y growth. On a brighter note, Exxon says it remains on track to deliver $9 billion of structural cost savings by the end of 2023 relative to 2019, having achieved cumulative structural cost savings of $8.3 billion to date. Exxon reported that Q2 total production fell 3.3% Y/Y to 3.61M boe/day; however, excluding divestments, entitlements, government mandates and the Sakhalin-1 expropriation, net production actually rose by more than 160K boe/day. The Permian basin delivered a quarterly record 622K boe/day and is on track to increase 10% this year while Guyana is on track to grow production 5% to 400K boe/day by year-end.

Chevron Corp.(NYSE:CVX) reported that its Q2 earnings decreased 48.3% Y/Y to $6.01B while adjusted earnings contracted 49.2% to $5.78B. Meanwhile, Q2 revenue clocked in at $48.9B, good for -28.9% Y/Y growth. Chevron reported record Permian Basin production of 772,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 11% Y/Y.